Game apparatus



April 24, 1962 Filed NOV. 24, 1959 H. lJ. CHAPMAN GAME APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FINISH FINISH.

TV5@ lo c 0,

INVENTOR. ,Q5/Vey a @agp/:44M

H. J. CHAPMAN GAME APPARATUS April 24, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 24, 1959 INVENTOR. /W

Armee/VE ys.

April 24, 1962 H. J. CHAPMAN 3,031,193

GAME APPARATUS Filed Nov. 24, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FVG. 6. 73

FINISH FINISH El -P I l INVENTOR. /7 HENRY u. Cmap/44M United States Patent Odce 3,031,193 Patented Apr'. 24, 1952 This invention relates to game boards, and more particularly to a game board of the type adapted to receive playing pieces representing the diiferent game competitors and being movable along designated paths toward denite objectives unless the game pieces of the respective players are intercepted by their opponents.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved game apparatusA which is simple in construction, which provides a high degree of entertainment to the players, and which enables a player to exert skill and judgment in attempting to overcome his opponent.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved game apparatus which is relatively inexpensive to fabricate, which is durable in construction, which is arranged to provide new and unusual types of playing actions, and which provides a considerable amount of amusement and entertainment by enabling the players to exert skill and judgment in moving their playing pieces and in manipulating the game board.

Further objects and advantages of the invention `will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of an improved game board constructed in accordance with the present in vention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 3 is a transverse vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view showing typical game board pieces which may be used on the game board of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the game board apparatus of FIGURE 1 with the upper panel removed.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the game board apparatus of FIGURE 1 with the slidable game piece positioning panel shifted to a position underlying the apertured transparent portion of the top wall of the game board.

Referring to the drawings, 11 generally designates an improved game board constructed in accordance with this invention. The game board 11 comprises a horizontal bottom support member 12 which is shaped generally in the form of a rectangular tray having the horizontal bottom surface 13 and the upstanding peripheral walls 14 defining a rectangular, relatively shallow tray. Removably mounted in the main supporting tray 12 is `a tray insert 15 of rigid sheet material, such as molded plastic material, or the like, the tray insert 15 being formed with upstanding hollow abutment members 16, 16 at the front and rear margins thereof and being formed at its intermediate portions with spaced upstanding` partition members 17 extending transversely, as shown in FIGURE l, and defining therebetween a plurality of transverse compartments 13. The insert member 15 is integrally formed with a hollow upstanding longitudinally extending abutment element 19 which is located substantially midway between the opposite side walls 20, 20 of the insert member, as shown in FIGURE 3, and which merges with the hollow front and rear opstanding marginal abutment members 16, 16. As shown in FIG- URES 2 and 3, the longitudinal hollow abutment member 19 is lower in height than the transversely extending front and rear marginal upstanding abutment members 16, 16.

Respective, generally rectangular horizontal panel elements 21 are secured in the transverse compartments 18, the panel elements 21 being mounted on the intermediate upstanding abutment member =19 and being provided at their edges with depending peripheral ilanges 22 which are secured to the adjacent surfaces of the upstanding marginal elements of the insert member 15, as well as to respective vertical surfaces of the partition elements 17.

Designated at 23 is a horizontal top wall panel which is secured in the upper portion of the tray-like main horizontal support member 12, for example, being fastened to the top surfaces of the forward and rear hollow upstanding abutment members 16, 16 and to the top edges of the upstanding side flange members 20, 20. The top wall member 23 is provided at one side with a trans parent portion 24 which overlies the left side portions of the panel .members 21, as viewed in FIGURE 3, the right side portions of said panel members being substantially hidden by the opaque remaining portion of the top wall member 23.

The transparent left side portion 24 above the respec-v tive compartments 18 is formed vwith vertical and horizontally arranged rows of game piece positioning apertures 26, the apertures being suitably shaped and dimensioned to receive the depending supporting stud portions 27 of suitable game pieces 28, such as those illustrated in FIG-V URE 4.

The panel members 21 beneath the apertured transparent portion 24 of the top wall 23 are suitably inscribed with circles 29 or similar indicia in vertical registry with the apertures 26, defining the game piece positions, and are further inscribed with lines 30 arranged to connect certain of the position-defining elements 29 soas to indicate permissive paths 'of movement of game pieces on the respective transparent top wall portions 24. Inscribed adjacent certain of the game piece position-denng indicia 29 are additional indicia 31, representing traps, as will be presently described, and further inscribed on the panels 21 are additional, suitably colored lines 32, representing short cuts, Vconnecting certain of the game piece position-dening elements 29.

The `forward margin of the top surface of the upper Wall panel 23 is inscribed with starting position indicia 34 Vconnected by lines 35 to points on the transparent panel portion 24 in vertical registry with su-bjacent game piece movement lines 30, as shown in FIGURE l, indieating a choice of game piece starting movements for the players. The rear marginal portion of top wall panel 23 is similarly inscribed with the destination indicia 36, representing the intended destinations of the game pieces. As will vbe presently explained, the game may be played by two players, one of the players having a game piece representing the quarry, and the other game piece representing the =wolf, .the wolf game piece being maneuvered by one player soas to attempt to catch Athe quarry game piece before the quarry ygame piece can reach one of the goal positions 36. According to the rules of `a typical game, the quarry is caught when the wolf can make one move and be in the same positioning aperture as the quarry thus capturing the quarry game piece and taking its position. According to the typical game rules, lthe quarry is allowed to make the firstV move. 'Ilhe quarry must follow the lines 3d, whereas the wolf game piece can be moved either along the lines 31B or along the short cut 32. The game pieces can be moved in either direction, forward or backwards, and also sideways, but only from one positioning aperture 26 to another for each move.

Slidably mountedon the members Z1 in each of the compartments 18 is a shif panel 40, said panel being movable laterally from a position normally hidden by the opaque right side portion of the top wall member 23 to a position exposed beneath the transparent portion 24 at the left side of said top wall member. Each shift panel 40 is inscribed with vertical and horizontal rows of game piece position-deiining indicia 41 spaced in the same manner las and being vertically registrable with the game piece positioning apertures Z6 when the panels 40 are shifted to positions underlying the transparent portion 24 of top wall 23, as illustrated in FIGURE 6. The game piece position-designating indicia 41 are connected by lines 42, representing permissive paths of movement of ythe game pieces, but being arranged in a different pattern than the lines 30 on the subjacent portions of the horizontal panel elements 21. The non-transparent side port-ion of the top wall 23 is formed with respective transverse slots 43 through which extend upwardly projecting lug elements 44 formed on the right ends of t-he shift panels 40, as viewed in FIGURES l, 4, 5, and 6, the lugs 44 being slidable in the slots 43 to guide the shift panels in their transverse movement. The lugs 44 also serve as tinger grip elements to enable the shift panels to be moved on the members 21.

As shown in FIGURES and 6, the shi-ft panels 40 are inscribed with wolf traps 45, corresponding to the wolf traps 31 previously described and with short cut lines 46, corresponding to the short cut lines 32 previously described.

As previously mentioned, in a typical set of rules for playing a game on the game board apparatus above described, a quarry game piece is moved by a player in a manner to reach a goal position 36 before it is caught by a wolf game piece maneuvered by an opponent player. According to such rules, each player is allowed one free shift, wherein at the players request all the shift panels 40 are moved laterally before the requesting player makes his move. VThe requesting player thus has an opportunity of using his judgment and to decide whether it is to his advantage to call for the shift According to such rules, each player can have as many penalty shifts as he desires, by so requesting. In this case, the player must movehis game piece backwards one line before shifting, and is thereafter allowed to move in any direction (along a proper line). No player can move his game piece through a wolf trap 31 or 45. If the game piece is caught in a wolf trap by shitting, the game piece must be moved backwards on its next move. According to further rules which may be incorporated into the game, the iirst player that moves his game piece through a shift line, namely, across a partition member 17 from one section into a new section, must shift the trails in the new section before entering. According to these rules, this requirement applies only to the iirst player that moves his game piece through a shift line. The remaining players are not required to shift `the panels on entering this section, unless so requesting, in accordance with the provisions of the rules above described.

As shown in FIGURE 4, gamepieces of various types may be employed, for example, game pieces representing animals, Little Red Riding Hood, a Wo and a bunten Various other representations may be employed for game pieces, in accordance with the spirit of the present invention. The game pieces are normally stored in a compartment 50 provided at the lower right hand corner of the game board assembly, as viewed in FIGURE l, the compartment being provided with a suitable removable cover or hinged closure member.

It will be readily apparent that various types of games may be played, utilizing the game board apparatus above described, and that the typical game described above is only one example of such games which may be devised.

While a specific embodiment of an improved game board apparatus has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by 'the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A game board of the character described comprising a horizontal support, a horizontal top wall member secured on said support and having a transparent portion overlying one side of the support and an opaque portion overlying the remaining side of the support, means deiining a plurality of rows of game piece positions on the transparent portion extending perpendicular to each other, and lines on the support arranged to provide the visual effect of connecting certain of said positions and arranged to indicate permissive paths of movement of the game pieces on said transparent portion, and a rigid auxiliary board element slidably mounted between the support and the top wall member and being substantially wholly receivable beneath said opaque portion, said auxiliary board element being formed to define game piece positions vertically registrable with the game piece positions on said transparent portion and having lines connecting the second-named game piece positions and indicating permissive game piece paths of movement differing from the first-named game piece paths of movement.

2. A game board of the character described comprising a horizontal Support, a horizontal top wall member secured on said support and having a transparent portion overlying one side of said support and an opaque portion overlying the remaining side of the support, said transparent portion being formed with rows of spaced apertures extending perpendicular to each other and deiining a plurality of game piece positions at the intersections of the rows on the transparent portion, said support being inscribed with lines arranged to provide the visual eiect connecting certain of said positions and arranged to indicate permissive paths of movement of game pieces on said transparent portion, and a rigid auxiliary board element slidably mounted between the support and the top wall member and being substantially wholly receivable beneath said opaque portion, said auxiliary board element being formed to define game piece positions vertically registrable with said apertures and having lines connecting said second-named game piece positions and indicating permissive game piece paths of movement differing from the first-named game piece paths of movement.

3. A game board of the character described comprising a horizontal support, spaced transverse partition elements on said support defining a plurality of transverse compartments, a horizontal top wall member secured on said support and having a transparent portion overlying one side of each of said compartments and being otherwise opaque, leaving the other side portion hidden, means on the transparent portion of the top Wall formed to define a plurality of rows of game piece positions extending perpendicular to each other and overlying the respective compartments, the support being inscribed with lines arranged to provide the visual eiiect of connecting certain of said positions, whereby to indicate permissive paths of movement of game pieces on the transparent top wall portion, and respective auxiliary rigid board elements slidably mounted in the compartments and being at times movable under said transparent portion, said auxiliary board elements being formed to detine game piece positions vertically registrable with the first-named game piece positions and having lines connecting said second-named game piece positions and indicating permissive game piece paths of movement differing from the first-named game piece paths of movement.

4. A game board of the character described comprising a horizontal support, spaced transverse partition elements on said support defining a plurality of transverse compartments, a horizontal top wall member secured on said support and having transparent portions overlying the side portions of said compartments and being otherwise opaque, leaving the other side portions hidden, said transparent top wall portions being vformed with rows of formed to define game piece positions vertically registrable with said apertures and being inscribed with lines connecting said second-named game piece positions and indicating permissive game piece paths of movement differing from the first-named game piece paths of movement.

5. A game board of the character described comprising a horizontal support, spaced transverse partition elements on, said support defining a plurality of transverse compartments, a horizontal top wall member secured on said support and having transparent portions overlying one side of the compartments and being otherwise opaque, leaving the lother sides of the compartments hidden, said transparent top Wall portions being formed with a plurality of rows of apertures extending perpendicular to each other and defining a plurality of game piece positions at their intersections, the underlying surface of the support being inscribed with ylines arranged to provide the visual eiect of connecting certain of said positions, whereby to indicate permissive paths of movement of game pieceson the respective transparent top wall portions, and respective auxiliary rigid board elements slidably mounted in the compartments and being at times inscribed with lines connecting said second-named game piece positions and indicating permissive game piece paths of movement diering from the first-named game piece paths of movement, said top -wall member being formed Awith respective transverse slots overlying the compartments and located on the hidden sides thereof, the ends or" the respective auxiliary board elements being provided with upstanding lugs extending through said slots and being slidable therein.

6. A game board of the character described comprising a support, a top wall member secured on said support and having a transparent portion overlying one side of the support and an opaque portion overlying the remaining side of the support, means defining a plurality of rows of game piece positions on the transparent portion* extending perpendicular to each other, lines on the support arranged to provide the visual effect of connecting certain of said positions and arranged to indicate permissive paths of movement of the game pieces on said transparent portion, and rigid board means movably mounted between the support and the top wall member and being formed to denne game piece positions vertically registrable with the y game piece positions on said transparent portion and having lines connecting the second-named game pieceV positions and indicating permissive game piece paths of movement differing from the rst-named game piece paths of movement. i

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Boynton Aug. 13, 1935 

